SOMERVILLE — The chef of Martino’s Cuban Restaurant at 212 Main Street hopes to parlay an appearance on the Food Network’s cooking competition show, “Chopped,” into his own television program.

Chef Ronaldo Linares, 30, made it into the second, entrée round on the show, which was broadcast last night and will be repeated today, July 15, at midnight and tomorrow, the 16th, at 3 p.m.

He was “chopped” after he let pork rind fry too long.

“A silly mistake,” Linares said about the blunder. Silly, perhaps, but galling, certainly, since chicharrón is a classic Cuban dish, something he makes every day, he said. He was embarrassed, he said after the event. “It was a beautiful brown, but I wanted a little more.” He looked away for “10 seconds,” he said, and the rind burned. “I was greedy.”

But taking risks is what Linares is all about. “Go big or go home,” he said. “You can’t play it safe.”

The show, which pits chefs against one another to produce a three-course meal, each of which must contain four ingredients that remain secret until 30 minutes before the dish must be served. Ronaldo had to go through a grueling year-long process to make it as a contestant, several stages of interviews, camera tests — and of course, cooking — in front of cameras both in the studio and on site at the family’s restaurant.

The outcome of the “Chopped” competition has not diminished his passion for food and cooking. The show required him to create dishes the instant he learned the secret ingredients. Quahog clams, prickly pear cactus, persimmons and Italian bitters became Linares’ appetizer, “Quahog de Cuba.” The “infamous pork skin,” as he put it, was to become an edible spoon with which the judges would have eaten his entrée, a dish that had to include halibut, salted duck egg yolks and purple cauliflower as well as the chicharrón.

In fact, his appearance on “Chopped” helped Linares achieve his first Food Network goal. He’s set his mind on the next: to become the next Food Network star. “This is the beginning,” he said.

Learn more about Martino’s Cuban Restaurant at www.martinoscuba.com or call 722-8602.